Raheem Sterling came off the bench to inspire a struggling Manchester City to a 2-0 Champions League win over Dinamo Zagreb at the Etihad.
The in-form England man scored within ten minutes of coming off the bench in the second half to help the Premier League champions to finally break through against a well-drilled Croatian side.
Pep Guardiola's side completely dominated the ball, having a whopping 81 percent possession and 16 shots in all, but they needed the new goal-scoring nous of Sterling to eventually get the ball in the back of the net.
Sterling netted just nine minutes after coming on to the pitch, to the obvious relief of Guardiola on the touchline - with the Spaniard desperate to finally taste European glory again.
Sterling's fellow substitute Phil Foden made an even quicker impact as he came off the bench in the 91st minute and duly doubled the lead in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
It was not convincing, but it's a second win for City and a second clean sheet as they continued to make serene progress in a group they're expected to dominate completely.
Match highlights
State of play in Group C
Elsewhere in the group, Manor Solomon scored in the fifth minute of stoppage time to steer Shakhtar Donetsk to a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Atalanta.
Duvan Zapata scored first for the Italians, who had earlier missed a penalty, but the visitors drew level just before half time and, with time ticking away to a draw, they pinched all three points right at the death.
City are now out in front in the standings with two wins from two, and are yet to concede a goal as they head into back-to-back games against pointless Atalanta, when they could effectively seal their place in the knockout stages depending on how the two games between Zagreb and Shakhtar go.
Reaction
Foden for England?
"He's a player I want to see in the national team!"
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) October 1, 2019
High praise from Raheem Sterling after a goal-scoring cameo from Phil Foden.
🏴 pic.twitter.com/O5Z79OOHz3
Manchester City 2-0 Dinamo Zagreb Opta stats
- Manchester City have won five consecutive Champions League home matches for the very first time.
- Dinamo Zagreb have become the first ever side to lose 13 consecutive away matches in the Champions League.
- Manchester City completed 626 more passes than Dinamo Zagreb in this match (727-100), also accumulating 71 more touches in their opponent’s box (73-2).
- Pep Guardiola has won all three of his Champions League matches against Dinamo Zagreb – his sides have scored nine goals without conceding.
- Riyad Mahrez has been directly involved in eight goals in eight Champions League appearances for Manchester City (2 goals, 6 assists), with three of those coming this season.
- Raheem Sterling has been directly involved in 19 goals in his last 16 home appearances in the Champions League for Manchester City (11 goals, eight assists), scoring or assisting at least once in 12 of his last 13 such matches.
